Reddit reviews The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

On markets like SR, people will often just advertise what they have access to, regardless of whether there's demand. Even if just a few people respond, income is income. The economics is not the same as for large businesses. The subtitle of the book Long Tail puts it well: "Why the future of business is selling less of more."

This book is recommended reading for those entering the niche game.

[The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More - by Chris Anderson] (http://amzn.to/16J87Yy)

Of course, the [Wikipedia article about Long Tail distributions in statistics] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail) is packed with technical jargon, but offers up a good overview of the power of long tail keywords.

I do not know for certain how long I have sat on one particular site. I don't really think of them in that way. Some definitely take time to develop. Others develop naturally right off the bat. I see them as low cost investments. I've been doing this since 2007-8. Some I hold, some I dump. I own many domain names that I have yet to develop. Of course, an aged domain name is never a bad thing.

Unfortunately there's no short answer because the right strategy is heavily dependent on the individual's strengths, skills, interests, and unique situation. I usually suggest people start by reading Four Hour Work Week, but first some disclaimers: Tim Ferris is a bit slimy and douchey IMO, with questionable ethics at times (all quite obvious in his book), but despite this, the book has legitimately launched a lifestyle design revolution that's helped thousands of people. Reading it was really a turning point in my wife's situation due to two basic principles we got from the book: 1) The power of stacking multiple small low-risk revenue streams rather than striving to strike it rich with one big winner, and 2) vetting plans based not on potential returns, but rather, on the degree to which they can be run hands-free once launched, thereby allowing you the free time to rinse-and-repeat.

I don't expect the above to make much sense from my quick description, but these are two very important ideas covered in the book in sufficient detail to set you on the right track if you're serious about it. Beyond that, there's a whole community of 4HWW readers who have done this and they share their stories on Ferris' blog and other online forums. Another helpful book is Chris Anderson's The Long Tail which doesn't provide much in the way of tactics, but does train your mind to notice micro-niches and appreciate their business potential, which is often overlooked by others. Long Tail is backed up with actual data, too.

Start with 4HWW though. You'll be pumped up before you finish reading it.

Is the quick delivery profitable as a stand alone business?

I do not know, but if it is not, then investors betting on other parts of Amazon's business or future growth allowed something that is not economical to undermine independent bookstores.

For example, this author says:

"Amazon has done all it's going to do to the industry...It's interesting that Amazon's early ambitions were to be the Walmart of the Internet. Books were incidental to their plans -- books just happened to be sitting in warehouses across the country ready to be shipped. It could easily have been lawn furniture.
Now that Amazon is the Walmart of the Internet, it's clear they want to take on technology service providers like Apple. They seem to be hanging around books and publishing mostly out of spite." [link]
(http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57604893-93/author-pleads-please-dont-buy-my-new-novel-on-amazon-q-a/).

Polemic tone aside, if what he says substantivally is true it's interesting

i remember the book long tail. here.

did you have to hunt and wait for popular books or just those on rare/hard to find books?

web is more convenient. i just wish, for example, the bookstore in westwood village (by UCLA where i went) hadn't gone out of business. A nice place to hang out.